Shinzuishoku Haki
Shinzuishoku Haki is an advanced tier of that is born from mastering both and . If it were to be ranked by the , it would be considered to be within the tier of 7th Dan and 8th Dan. It is achieved only by those who have truly devoted themselves to the cultivation of Haki. Therefore, it can only be invoked by those who have managed to fully master armament, cladding oneself with life force, and observation, sympathizing and understanding the hearts of others. Overview Everything that one does, all actions, have a will behind them. As many of the old masters would say, "all attacks have a will". Any individual that has come to grasp the fundamentals of Haki knows this as an absolute. Most are unaware, however, of the nature behind that will. To simply say there is a will behind an action is to be ignorant of the meaning behind that will; the thoughts, desires, emotions, and essence that drives that will and gives it strength. It normally comes across without the individual ever realizing it. Punching harder when one is angry, moving faster when running away due to fear, being able to stand up to a force greater than one's own because of stubbornness; all these human thoughts, the "heart" so to speak, that drives everything a human does is crystallized in that will. It can therefore be said that willpower, Haki itself, is the crystallization of the human heart. It is possible for the individual to invoke and create the essence behind the will that forms their Haki. This essence is referred to as the "intent of the heart" (化身, shin'i). The user harnesses a thought or a desire, crystallizing a conceptual essence, which becomes the core of the manifested form that the Haki will take. One's life force binds to this essence and takes on the desired form that the user wishes. The purpose in doing so is that the user is able to invoke the conceptual phenomenon that parallels the nature behind that essence. The more specific the essence being invoked is, the greater the resultant effect will be. Kurama, one of the foremost authorities on Haki, demonstrates this ability through many phenomenon; in particular, he is able to recreate the infamous , once wielded by , through his sword creation technique. The Fleet Admiral is someone that can create weapons from solidified Busoshoku Haki and to create a sword using that which will resemble the form of Yoru is child's play. But in fact, it does not only take on the form of Yoru, but also embodies the essence of the true Yoru once wielded by the infamous Mihawk. However, because Kurama does not himself know Mihawk personally, and has unfortunately never had the pleasure of actually engaging him in battle, the deepest level of essence he can invoke of the swordsman is his title that is known by many. Kurama invokes the thought of "the sword belonging to the world's greatest swordsman", and binds his Haki to this conceptual essence, creating a replica of Yoru with the power and force that befits the one who would be considered the greatest swordsman. The end result is a replica of Yoru that boasts tremendous cutting power. Kurama explains this phenomenon by saying that using the idea of "the sword of the greatest swordsman" to bind the Haki together is almost like drawing on the will of somebody who would possess power and skill that is fitting of such a title. In other words, it is as though one has managed to actually draw on the spirit, the essence, of Dracule Mihawk in some way, combining together the thought of "the world's greatest swordsman", invoking the thought of Mihawk himself, along with "the sword belonging to him". This replica of Yoru, therefore, embodies a power behind it that would somewhat resemble the same physical phenomenon that would result from Mihawk himself swinging the mighty Yoru. However, the Shinzuishoku Haki is not restricted to only weapons created purely from Haki such as in Kurama's case. Anything that is coated in Busoshoku Haki — the body, weapons, armor, clothes — is a medium for Shinzuishoku as well. One could even argue that this Haki technique is itself the evolved form of Busoshoku, though in truth, one must acquire a similar degree of mastery over Kenbunshoku, understanding of thoughts or intentions, before it is ever possible to actually invoke those intentions. A sword coated with Haki that binds with the crystallized idea of "a great swordsman" will cut more powerfully, or perhaps an arm coated with Haki bonded with the thought of "a great martial artist" will produce a faster and stronger punch. The more specific the idea, and the more intimately the user can visualize the idea, the greater the effect will be. Because of this, only ideas that are, in some way, associated with the individual can actually be invoked to produce any significant effect. In Kurama's case, visualizing thoughts that are associated with "the greatest", "the strongest", or "the combined effort of others" would produce the greatest and most potent phenomenon because those are ideas that parallel his virtues and own personal will. Simply put, Shinzuishoku users will find the most potent effect when visualizing and invoking conceptual essences that are in line with their own ideals or characteristics. Someone who has never wielded a sword, for example, would find it very difficult to invoke any meaningful effect by attempting to use the thought of "the greatest swordsman". But this is not an absolute, for masters of this Haki shade are able to translate ideas that would normally seem unrelated to them into something that fits their own nature. These phenomenon, however, are by no means infallible. Binding Haki to the idea of "a sword that cannot be broken" does not mean the sword can absolutely not be broken. While such a thought, despite its vagueness, can definitely produce the phenomenon of exponentially enhancing their sword's durability, the sword can only withstand what the user themselves can withstand in terms of willpower. Haki is, after all, a battle of willpower, and should one come across an opponent with a stronger will than them, no matter what idea they manifest with Shinzuishoku, it is still vulnerable to being broken and defeated. That goes to say, also, that the more powerful the thought or idea that is being invoked may be, the greater the expenditure of Haki is needed to produce the phenomenon. The extent of the manifested concept is proportional to how much Haki the user is able to pour into the invocation. Tiers of Mastery Known Users * Kurama Behind the Scenes